Targeted television advertisements based on online behavior

ABSTRACT

In a method for delivering targeted television advertisements based on online behavior, IP addresses indicating online access devices and IP addresses indicating television set-top boxes are electronically associated for a multitude of users. Using user profile information derived from online activity from one of the online access IP addresses, a television advertisement is selected, such as by using behavioral targeting or demographic information, and automatically directed to the set-top box indicated by the set-top IP address associated with that online access IP address. Preferably neither the user profile information nor the electronic association of online access and set-top box IP addresses includes personally identifiable information.

BACKGROUND

The field of the present invention relates to online access and targeteddelivery of advertisements. In particular, television advertisements aretargeted based on observed online (i.e., Internet) behavior of atelevision viewer without employing personally identifiable information.

Some of the terms used in the present disclosure or appended claims aredefined as follows.

Television provider (TVP)—an entity that provides television service toa subscriber or user via any suitable transmission medium, including butnot limited to coaxial cable, fiber-optical cable, network cable, phoneline, satellite transmission, or VHF or UHF transmission.

Internet service provider (ISP; equivalently, an online accessprovider)—an entity that provides online access to a subscriber or uservia any suitable transmission medium, including but not limited tocoaxial cable, fiber-optical cable, network cable, phone line, satellitetransmission, wireless transmission (e.g., WiMax, WiFi, other IEEE 802wireless protocols, etc.), or VHF or UHF transmission. The online accessenables the subscriber to access the Internet and its myriad onlinesites, or to access any future network successor to the Internet.

Set-top box (STB)—a device that connects a television and a signalsource. The STB receives an incoming signal, extracts content from thereceived signal, and transmits the extracted content to the televisionto be presented to a viewer. The signal source can be a computer networkcable (e.g., an Ethernet or other transmission-speed cable), a satellitedish, a coaxial cable connected to a cable television system, atelephone line or digital subscriber line (DSL), a wireless networkconnection, an antenna (VHF, UHF, digital, or other), or anothersuitable signal source. The content can include, but is not limited to,video (which often can include an audio portion), audio, Internet webpages, interactive games, or other content. An STB may or may notinclude a dedicated television tuner. Despite its name, an STB need notbe physically located on top of a television set literally. Undercurrent technology, STBs often are located physically adjacent to thetelevision set, such as in a media cabinet or the like, but it is noteven necessary that the STB be located in proximity to the television.Nor is it necessary that the STB be a box, literally. Rather, a STBmight be implemented, for example, as a circuit board, integratedcircuit, set of integrated circuits, or software that is physicallyintegrated with another “box,” such as the television, a cable or otherconnection, a computer, or a building equipment or junction box, whichalso has other functions, or without being housed in any “box” at all.

Digital video recorder (DVR, alternatively personal video recorder orPVR)—a device that stores video content in a digitally encoded format ona digital storage medium, such as a hard drive, and enables playback ofthe stored content. A DVR can comprise a stand-alone unit connected to atelevision, an STB, or a signal source, or the DVR can comprise softwarethat programs a computer to perform DVR storage and playback functions.

Video-on-Demand (VOD)—a system that allows users to select and viewvideo content delivered from a signal source in response to a requestfrom the user. Typically, the requested video content can be viewed at atime of the user's own choosing and can be paused, rewound, orfast-forwarded as desired by the user. A VOD system can “stream” thecontent (enabling viewing of portions of a requested item of videocontent while other portions are still being delivered from the signalsource), or the VOD system can “download” the content and allow viewingonly after a complete item is delivered from the signal source. Some VODsystems allow users to select and watch video content over a network aspart of an interactive television system.

Interactive Television (interactive TV, iTV, idTV, or ITV)—anytelevision system that enables a viewer to interact with video contentdelivered to a television. Interactive television can include, but isnot limited to, access to Web sites through TV “crossover links,”electronic mail and online chat, online commerce, or enhanced graphics(relative to standard television offerings).

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)—a system wherein television contentis delivered via a computer network using Internet Protocol (IP). Forresidential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video onDemand and can also be bundled with Internet services such as Internetaccess and Voice-over-IP (VoIP). Commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP, andInternet access is sometimes referred to in the industry as a “tripleplay.” Additional telecommunications services (e.g., mobile voice ordata service) can be added, yielding a “quadruple play” and so forth.IPTV typically is supplied by a broadband service provider using aclosed network infrastructure. IPTV also can be provided over theInternet or other publicly accessible computer network, in which case itmight be referred to as Internet TV or TV-over-Internet. IPTV also canbe used to deliver video or other content over a corporate LAN or otherbusiness network.

Online user interface device—any user interface device used to access aremote network such as the Internet, including but not limited to a cellphone or mobile handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or anetworked computer (desktop, workstation, notebook, laptop, or other).

Online access device—any device used to connect an online user interfacedevice to a remote network such as the Internet, including but notlimited to a modem, a wired or wireless router, a wireless access point,a wired network adapter (e.g., Ethernet adapter), a wireless networkadapter (e.g., IEEE 802.11, ED-VO, EDGE, HSPA, CDMA, GSM, or other), oran optical fiber based network adapter (e.g., a network interface unitor optical network terminal). Different types of online access devicescan and sometimes are combined into a single unit (e.g., a modem thatalso functions as a router for a LAN). An online user interface deviceand an online access device can be, and sometimes are, combined into asingle unit (e.g., a computer with a built-in Ethernet adapter, wirelessadapter, or modem).

Router—any device that acts as a junction between networks, to bufferand transfer data between or among them. For example, a router can beemployed to connect a local area network (LAN) to the Internet, therebyenabling online user interface devices connected to the LAN to share aconnection to the Internet through the router. The router receives datafrom devices on the LAN and transmits them to the Internet directed totheir corresponding destinations, and receives data from the InternetInternet and directs them to the corresponding devices on the LAN.

Modem—a device that enables online access by a user by acting as aninterface between the online access provider's network transmissionsystem and the user's computer or other online user interface device.Modems vary according to the type of provider network transmissionsystem. Unless a specific type of modem is specified, the term “modem”shall encompass telephone modems, cable modems, DSL modems, wirelessmodems, satellite modems, or modems for providing online access to anyother suitable network transmission system.

Cable modem—a type of modem that enables digital data transmission overcable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used todeliver broadband Internet access using modulation frequencies that arenot used for traditional television transmission.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL, or often DSL)—a datacommunications technology that enables faster data transmission over acopper telephone line than a conventional modem can provide. ADSL datatransmission employs frequencies that typically are not used for voicetransmission, usually frequencies beyond the range of normal humanhearing (higher than about 20 kHz). Propagation of such high-frequencysignals over standard copper telephone lines typically is poor,typically limiting the use of DSL to distances less than about 5 km.Once the signal reaches the telephone company's nearest central office(CO), the ADSL signal is stripped off and routed into a conventionaldata network, while any voice-frequency signal is routed into theconventional telephone network. That arrangement enables a singletelephone line to be used for both data transmission and telephone callssimultaneously.

DSL modem—an ADSL transceiver, also known as an ADSL modem, used toconnect one or more computers to a phone line to use an ADSL service. ADSL modem also can be referred to as a remote ADSL termination unit(ATU-R). An ADSL modem can also be configured to act as a router,managing the connection and sharing of the ADSL service with multiplecomputer or other networked devices. Such a combined device can bereferred to as a DSL modem/router or similar terminology.

Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM)—a device enablinghigh-speed connections between telephone lines and a computer networksuch as the Internet. Typically it is located at a telephone companycentral office (CO) and connects multiple Digital Subscriber Lines(DSLs) to a computer network, typically the Internet, using a suitablemultiplexing technique.

Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS)—equipment typically found in acable company's headend that is used to provide data communication overthe cable television infrastructure, thereby enabling the cable companyto offer services such as broadband Internet access or VoIP to itssubscribers. To provide high-speed data services (i.e., broadbandaccess), a cable company typically connects its headend to the Internetusing high capacity data links, directly or through a network serviceprovider. On the subscriber side of the headend, the CMTS enables datacommunication with each subscriber's cable modem. Various CMTSs arecapable of serving different cable modem population sizes, which canrange from 4,000 cable modems to 150,000 or more. A given cable companyheadend may have only a few CMTSs, or a dozen or more, depending on thesize of the cable modem population serviced by that headend.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)—a system that automaticallyassigns Internet Protocol addresses (IP addresses), subnet masks,default routers, and other IP parameters, which are required for properrouting of data transmissions to or from a particular device connectedto the network. The assignment usually occurs when a DHCP-configuredcomputer, modem, router, or other device boots up or regainsconnectivity to the network. The DHCP client (i.e., DHCP softwareresident in the computer) sends out a query requesting a response from aDHCP server on the network. The query is typically initiated immediatelyafter booting up and before the client initiates any IP-basedcommunication with other hosts. The DHCP server then replies to theclient with its assigned IP address, subnet mask, domain name server(DNS), and default gateway information (referred to as “stateful”assignment). The assignment of the IP address usually expires after apredetermined period of time, at which point the DHCP client and serverrenegotiate a new IP address from the DHCP server's predefined pool ofIP addresses. Because, under DHCP, the IP address of a given computervaries over time, various network-related functions are more difficult.For example, configuring firewall rules to allow access to or from amachine that receives its IP address via DHCP is more complicatedbecause the IP address varies from time to time. Network administratorstypically must enable access to an entire remote DHCP subnet for aparticular TCP/UDP port. Such complications arise in other instances aswell. Many residential routers and firewalls are configured in thefactory to act as DHCP servers for home networks. A computer can also beused as a DHCP server. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) generally useDHCP to assign individual IP addresses to subscribers. DHCPv6, which isthe Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol for Internet Protocol Version 6(IPv6), enables local generation of IP addresses (i.e., “stateless”assignment). Although such stateless address auto-configuration of IPv6substantially eliminates a prime motivation for DHCP in IPv4, DHCPv6 canstill be used to statefully assign addresses if needed or desired by anetwork administrator. DHCPv6 can also be used to distribute informationthat is not otherwise discoverable, e.g., the domain name server.

Behavioral targeting—the delivery of specific advertisements to asubscriber, the advertisements being selected on the basis of activityof the subscriber, typically recent activity, including but not limitedto: online searches conducted by the subscriber; content accessed by thesubscriber online or on television; online advertisements viewed,clicked on, or otherwise accessed by the subscriber; online shopping orpurchases made by the subscriber; and any other form of previoussubscriber activity.

Central Ad Server (CAS)—a computer server that manages delivery ofonline advertisements to visitors of online sites. A local ad server canbe typically run by a single online publisher to serve ads to visitorsof websites of that publisher's Internet domains, or by a singleadvertiser to serve ads into ad space acquired by the advertiser onvarious other websites. A third-party or remote ad server typically isremotely located and delivers advertisements of various advertisers tovisitors of websites of multiple domains owned by multiple publishers.The remote ad server acts as a central conduit for deliveringadvertisements, enabling advertisers and publishers to track thedistribution of their online advertisements and to control the rotationand distribution of their advertisements across the Internet from onelocation. The advertisements can be stored on the CAS for laterdelivery, can be transmitted to the CAS and then delivered from the CASupon receiving an ad request, or can be delivered from another source inresponse to an ad request received and routed by the CAS. Examples ofthird-party ad servers include DoubleClick's DART for Publishers centralad server (also known as DFP) and DoubleClick's DART for Advertiserscentral ad server (also known as DFA).

Profile provider—An entity that collects profile information that isused to target advertisements. In the context here, the profile providercooperates with a CAS, which receives all or part of the collectedprofile information from the profile provider for use in targeting TVadvertisements. User profile information derived from online activitycan include observed online behavior of a user accessing the Internet ordemographic information collected from a user accessing the Internet.Examples of profile providers can include, but are not limited to, anyentity that owns or uses: (1) a visited Internet site server; (2) aserver delivering content, images, audio, video, text, or anycombination directed to an online user interface device (such as acomputer or other online interface device) via an online access device(such as a modem or router), either directly or indirectly (e.g., via aredirect); (3) a server delivering an ad to an online user interfacedevice via an online access device on behalf of an advertiser or an adnetwork; (4) a server recording an activity conducted from an onlineuser interface device such as a click on an ad or a link to an ad, aviewing of an ad, a click on a link to particular content, a search, arequest for product information, receipt of particular content, aproduct purchase, a telephone call made, or any other selected anddefinable user activity; or (5) a server facilitating instant messagesor any other kind of communication on behalf of the user. Anotherexample of a profile provider is: (6) a company sponsoring and havingaccess to a computer program located on the user's computer or otheronline user interface device that can observe the user's online activity(with the user's permission), such as a browser toolbar or desktopsearch software. A profile provider, broadly, can be: (7) any entityable to collect behavioral profiles (observed online activity) ordemographic profiles (provided by the user), preferably for purposeshere including the IP address used when the profile was observed orcollected and the date and time the profile was observed or collected,regardless of whether or not the entity collected a given profiledirectly through contact with the user's computer or indirectly fromanother entity such as those listed in this paragraph. In some cases, auser's online activity will result in direct contact between the onlineuser interface device via an online access device and the profileprovider, e.g., if the profile provider is an online commerce site, theuser makes a purchase at the site, and the online commerce sitegenerates a profile for that user. In other instances there may be nodirect contact between the profile provider and the user, e.g., if theuser makes a purchase at an online commerce site that in turn reportsinformation pertaining to the user to the profile provider. In somesituations, also, a profile provider might also own or otherwise controla CAS, in which case user profiles can be immediately available to theCAS without need for transmission between separate entities.

Profiles or partial profiles provided by a profile provider to a CAS cancontain any quantity of profile information, such as, in one example,just an online access IP address used by a person at the time hisprofile was collected and the identity of the profile provider. The IPaddress can be provided by the profile provider itself or might beobtained by the CAS when a user engages in any online activity orprovides an item of demographic information and is redirected by aprofile provider to the CAS. In another example, a profile can be moreextensive and can include demographic or behavioral information, such asan extensive browsing history, shipping or purchase histories, contentviewed, and other information concerning the user's characteristics orthe user's activities. Although the profile provider is an entity, manyor most of the actions attributed to the profile provider are actuallyperformed by equipment under the administrative control of the profileprovider, such as computers, servers, software running on thosecomputers or servers, network connection hardware or software, or otherequipment. Such actions may still be characterized as being performed“by the profile provider,” whether performed automatically,semi-automatically, or manually.

Personally Identifiable Information (PII)—information that can be usedto identify a specific person, including but not limited to: name,Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, street address, emailaddress, static IP address (if any), phone number (home, work,wireless), financial account numbers (bank accounts, credit accounts, orany other financial data), driver's license number, vehicle registrationnumber, vehicle license number, facial photographs, fingerprints,handwriting or signature, or any other information that can assist inidentifying a specific person.

Non-Personally-Identifiable Information (non-PII)—information about aperson that typically cannot be used to specifically identify thatperson, including but not limited to: city, state, or country ofresidence, age, gender, race, ethnicity, school or workplace (ifsufficiently large), salary or income, hobbies, dynamically assigned IPaddresses, online sites visited, online searches conducted, or otherinformation that is useful to know about a person but done not by itselfallow one knowing the information to identify the particular person.

Cookie—a text file placed on a user's computer by a server that alsoserves content to the user's computer using browser software. The cookietypically can be read or altered only by a server operating under thesame Internet domain as the server that originally placed the cookie.The cookie file can be used to identify a computer that has already beenin contact with the same domain and can also be used to store PII ornon-PII pertaining to a user of that computer. In a first example, acookie can store non-PII such as previous searches conducted at thesite, or pages viewed or visited at the site, by the computer user. In asecond example, a cookie can be used to store a username used by theuser to access a site, customized preferences of the user, or variouspieces of PII. It should be noted that a cookie file can also becreated, altered, or deleted by software located on the user's computer.

Television advertisement (TV ad)—a full screen video ad, a partialscreen video ad, a banner ad, a text ad, an audio ad, or any other formof advertisement suitable for delivery to and visual or audiblepresentation by a television set.

Various systems are used currently for targeting advertisements based onuser/viewer/customer behavior. Many of these rely on the collection ofpersonally identifiable information (PII) to enable correlation of theperson exhibiting the behavior and advertisements targeted at thatperson. There are some examples wherein advertisements can be targetedwithout collecting PII, but in such examples it is typically the casethat the medium of the behavior and that of the advertisement are thesame. For example, many grocery stores hand out so-called “club cards”that need not be linked to PII. A shopper presents the card at checkoutto receive various discounts, thereby allowing the store to link thelist of purchased items to the card. As the system “learns” theshopper's purchasing habits, the system begins issuing coupons targetedat at purchases that the shopper has made previously or that the systempredicts the shopper may wish to make based on past purchases. Inanother example, online advertisements are readily targeted based on anInternet user's online activities without using PII. The use of cookiesenables an ad server to recognize an Internet site visitor who has beenpreviously presented with ads by the ad server or who has conductedsearches or accessed content at sites linked to the ad server. The adserver can target future advertising to the site visitor based on thatprevious activity. A user who has searched for airline tickets tosouthern California on an online travel site, for instance, can laterreceive targeted online advertisements for Disneyland, delivered perhapswhile visiting some other online site, to the user's computer from an adserver that collected the user's search information from the onlinetravel site.

It becomes more difficult to avoid the use of PII when it is desired totarget advertising in one medium based on activity in another. Variousschemes currently are implemented, under development, or beingconsidered wherein PII is used, e.g., to target televisionadvertisements based on a viewer's online behavior. Some of thoseschemes involve agreements or alliances among television providers,online access providers, online search portals, or online sites. The PIIhas typically been required to make the connection between the differentmedia, because different devices are typically employed to access eachone.

A significant shortcoming of many such cross-media ad-targeting systemsis the need to use PII to target advertisements delivered in one mediumbased on user behavior in another medium. Battelle (John Battelle, TheSearch, Portfolio, New York, 2005) describes the delivery ofpersonalized ads to a DVR based on observed online behavior of the DVRuser (conducted searches, sites visited, etc., including PII) when he orshe was using a personal computer for online access and furtherdescribes financially rewarding the user for watching the ad (e.g., byreducing the fee for the TV service or by offering “free” TV service).However, many consumers object to the merging or correlation ofpersonally identifiable information and online behavior. Financialincentives such as free or reduced-fee games, screen-savers, content, orInternet access in return for information useful for targeting adsrequiring collection and use of PII and data pertaining to onlinebehavior generally have not proven to be attractive to the public in thepast. Such combining of PII with online behavior data has provenparticularly unattractive to consumers having larger incomes, whoadvertisers are especially interested in reaching.

An example of a cross-media ad-targeting system, planned to beimplemented as a result of an announced alliance between Google andBSkyB, is a system wherein BSkyB can use searches conducted by theirsubscribers on the BSkyB Internet search portal to deliver targeted adsto the DVR's of those same subscribers. BSkyB already has PII pertainingto its television subscribers, so linking search results from its ownsearch portal site may not seem too alarming to its subscribers.Nevertheless, PII is still required to target the televisionadvertisements. However, many and perhaps most search sites and contentsites accessed online are not owned or controlled by television serviceproviders. In addition, many and perhaps most search sites and contentsites do not typically collect PII to identify those users who accessthem online.

It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods for deliveringtargeted television advertisements to users or viewers based on theironline behavior (searches performed, sites visited, online ads viewed,an so on), but without using PII to link the television viewer to his orher online activity.

SUMMARY

In a method for delivering targeted television advertisements based ononline behavior, IP addresses indicating online access devices and IPaddresses indicating television set-top boxes are electronicallyassociated, for a multitude of users. Using user profile informationderived from online activity from one of the online access IP addresses,a television advertisement is selected, such as by using behavioraltargeting or demographic information, and automatically directed to theset-top box indicated by the set-top IP address associated with thatonline access IP address. Preferably neither the user profileinformation nor the electronic association of online access and set-topbox IP addresses includes personally identifiable information.

Objects and advantages pertaining to delivery of targeted televisionadvertisements based on online behavior may become apparent uponreferring to the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings anddisclosed in the following written description and/or claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-5 and 6A-6C illustrate schematically a system for targetingtelevision advertisements based on online behavior in which onlineaccess and television service are provided by a common provider.

FIGS. 7-10, 11A-11C, and 12 illustrate schematically a system fortargeting television advertisements based on online behavior in whichonline access and television service are provided by differentproviders.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate schematically a system for targetingtelevision advertisements based on online behavior in which onlineaccess is provided by a mobile device.

The embodiments shown in the figures are exemplary and should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the present disclosure and/orappended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the following disclosure and appended claims, the term “user” shallbe construed as one or more persons receiving online access ortelevision service at a delivery end-point within a household, office,business, or other site or establishment served by an online accessprovider or television service provider. Thus, delivery of a televisionad to “the user” based on access of an online site by “the user” mightinvolve a single person, or one person might access the online sitewhile the corresponding television ad might be delivered to anotherperson in the household, office, business, or other site orestablishment. The delivery end-point may be one television set ormultiple sets of a given user; likewise, online access may involve oneor more computers or other online interface devices of a given user. Insome instances, a business having multiple physical locations may beserved by separate online or television services, but in otherinstances, a business may have an internal LAN or WAN that extendsservice provided to multiple physical locations. Also, some computersand televisions are portable, and can access the service provided fromremote locations. Accordingly, the term “user” is intended to refer tothat person or those persons who receive the provided services and doesnot require a fixed or single location in such instances.

In the disclosed exemplary systems and methods for delivering targetedtelevision advertisements based on online behavior, IP addressesindicating online access devices and IP addresses indicating televisionset-top boxes are electronically associated, for a multitude of users.Using user profile information derived from online activity from one ofthe online access IP addresses, a television advertisement is selected,such as by using behavioral targeting or demographic information, andautomatically directed to the set-top box indicated by the set-top IPaddress associated with that online access IP address. Preferablyneither the user profile information nor the electronic association ofonline access and set-top box IP addresses includes personallyidentifiable information. The online access and set-top box IP addressescan be electronically associated for many or all of the users of themultitude before directing television ads to any of the multitude ofusers. Alternatively, online access and set-top box IP addresses can beelectronically associated for one or a few of a multitude of users atany given time as needed for directing television ads to users, withadditional IP addresses electronically associated at later times fordirecting other television ads to additional users.

In an exemplary system for serving targeted television advertisementsbased on a user's online behavior, the user receives both televisionservice and Internet access from a common service provider that acts asboth an internet service provider and a television provider.Accordingly, such a provider entity can be referred to as ISP/TVP. Thebasic layout of this scenario is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1,wherein online access device 32, online user interface device 34,set-top box 36, and television 38 are associated with a user 30. In someinstances online access device 32 and online user interface device 34are integrated in a single unit, while in other instances they compriseseparate units. Likewise, in some instances set-top box 36 andtelevision 38 are integrated in a single unit, while in other instancesthey comprise separate units. The common service provider 20 can offerInternet access via any suitable online access device 32 (a modem,router, or network adapter suitable for connecting to cable, DSL,wireless, satellite, Ethernet, or any other transmission system) alongwith the television service provided through set-top box 36 (STB 36).For purposes of the subsequent discussion, online access device 32 shallbe described and shown in the figures as a modem and online userinterface device 34 shall be described and shown in the figures as acomputer separate from modem 32. These descriptions shall not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the present disclosure or appendedclaims.

Many users of online access service (i.e., subscribers) are not providedwith a static IP address; instead a dynamic IP address (designated asIP_(modem) in the figures) is allocated to the user's modem 32 foronline access, typically through DHCP. The online access IP address isallocated by the Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) if ISP/TVP 20 isa cable company, whereas the online access IP address is allocated bythe Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) if ISP/TVP 20 isa phone company. Other types of online access providers allocate dynamicIP addresses in a similar manner using analogous equipment. It is to themodem IP address (i.e., the online access IP address) that traffic froma remote network is routed to the modem 32 and hence to other devicessharing the modem connection to the remote network; the modem IP addressis the only address “seen” by the remote network. The dynamicallyassigned online access IP address is replaced after some time intervalby another IP address allocated to modem 32. ISP/TVP 20 transmits (as inFIG. 2) to a Central Ad Server (CAS 40), or perhaps to multiple CASs,the online access IP addresses of a multitude of users along withcorresponding pseudonyms or aliases associated with the IP addresses,e.g., user XY123 is connected to the Internet through a modem 32 that isassigned IP address aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd. Each online access IP address andits associated pseudonym can be transmitted to the CAS 40 immediatelyupon its allocation or reallocation by ISP/TV 20, which could beadvantageous in sending TV ads to the user's STB quickly. Alternatively,online access IP addresses and the corresponding pseudonyms can betransmitted periodically to CAS 40 at any necessary or desirable timeinterval. The pseudonyms and online access IP addresses are non-PII. Themultitude of users can be any set made up of a large number of users anddoes not necessarily include every user having online access ortelevision service through a particular company or provider. Forexample, the system described can operate only with respect to a subsetof users, such as those users who have capabilities needed to implementthis system (e.g., suitable hardware, software, operating system, etc.),those who have done some sort of subscription, or those selected basedon criteria as to which operation of the system is considered desirable,less expensive to implement, or profitable. For example, those usersmight be chosen that have STBs with an operating system, software, orhardware capable of receiving the software required to accept TV adsfrom a CAS. In any event, the fact that other users may exist as towhich the system does not operate is not intended to negate theadvantages of the system as to those users for which the system doesoperate.

Because the user pseudonym and online access IP address are associatedwith the modem 32, multiple computers or other devices sharing the modemconnection for online access will share the online access IP address andthe user pseudonym. When the user's STB 36 is used to access a web-basedserver (for accessing an online programming guide, for example, throughthe cable television transmission system or through a connection to theInternet), ISP/TVP 20 additionally transmits (as in FIG. 2) to the CAS40 the IP address allocated to the STB (designated as IP_(STB) in thefigures) and associates it with the pseudonym previously associated withthe user's modem 32, e.g., user XY123 has an STB at IP addresseee.fff.ggg.hhh in addition to a modem for online access at IP addressaaa.bbb.ccc.ddd. The association of the user's online access IP address(i.e., modem IP address) and the user's STB IP address at CAS 40constitutes non-PII. ISP/TVP 20 knows the IP address of STB 36 becausethe web based server accessed by STB 36 is typically operated by ISP/TVP20. If STB 36 has its own modem (an increasingly common scenario as thetransition is made from IPv4 to IPv6), the IP address of STB 36 isallocated by ISP/TVP 20 via the CMTS or DSLAM or other similar system,typically using DHCP. Alternatively, in the event that STB 36 accessesthe web-based server via a connection 35 to the same modem 32 thatprovides the user's online access (as in FIG. 3), STB 36 will havereported to CAS 40 the same IP address that was reported for the user'sonline access modem 32. In all of those cases, the CAS 40 can nowassociate the IP address for the user's online access (modem 32) with anIP address for the user's STB 36, and the association is not PII.

ISP/TVP 20 reports to CAS 40 that user XY123 is accessing the Internetusing online access IP address aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd and has STB 36 using STBIP address eee.fff.ggg.hhh. These associations can be stored on CAS 40,or only by ISP/TVP 20, as desired. If user XY123 engages in onlineactivity from IP address aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd (for example, accessing anonline site 50, as in FIG. 4), then online site 50 can electronicallycommunicate (as in FIG. 5) an indication of the user's online activityto CAS 40, which in turn can cause a television advertisement to bedirected to the STB IP address that is associated with online IP addressaaa.bbb.ccc.ddd. In this example the online site 50 acts as a profileprovider. Without relying on PII, CAS 40 knows that IP addressaaa.bbb.ccc.ddd is associated with user XY123 and that user XY123 has aset-top box with IP address eee.fff.ggg.hhh, and CAS 40 causes thetelevision advertisement to be directed to IP address eee.fff.ggg.hhhthat indicates STB 36 (as in FIGS. 6A-6C). In some implementations, thetelevision advertisements are delivered to STB 36 using an ad servercontrolled by ISP/TVP 20, using either an IP-based protocol (an exampleof which is shown in the referenced figures) or a television deliverysystem (e.g., a dedicated cable advertisement channel). In one suchimplementation, that ad server report to CAS 40 the user pseudonym(XY123) and CAS 40 provides that ad server with TV ads targeting userXY123 based on profile information collected from IP addresses reportedby ISP/TVP 20 as belonging to XY123. In another such implementation,that ad server reports the IP addresses used by each of a multitude ofusers of Internet services provided by ISP/TVP 20 along with the timesand dates that those addresses were used, and CAS 40 provides that adserver with TV ads targeting each of the multitude of Internet usersbased on profile information received from the reported IP addresses atthe corresponding reported times and dates. Personal privacy ismaintained in these implementations because (1) no PII is used by CAS 40in these implementations, and (2) although ISP/TVP 20 has the capacityto identify the users, the ad server of ISP/TVP 20 does not learn theprofile information collected for and received by CAS 40.

The particular television advertisement thus directed typically isselected for delivery to the user's STB 36 based on the user's onlinebehavior (e.g., merely accessing the online site 50, viewing aparticular web page, performing a particular search, clicking on aparticular link or ad, online shopping or purchases, or other activity).Information about observed online behavior (i.e., indications of onlineactivity) or collected demographic information can be used by the CAS orby the profile provider to direct a targeted TV ad. In the latter case,the CAS has just the IP address of the profiled user and the identity ofthe profile provider but not the observed online behavior or demographicinformation collected by the profile provider, so the CAS can direct aTV ad to the user merely by enabling the profile provider to arrange forthe delivery of a targeted TV ad based on the observed online behavioror demographic information available to the profile provider. Examplesof profile providers are given above.

The profile provider (such as the proprietor of online site 50) can sendan electronic communication to the CAS, preferably automatically such asby having the profile provider's server pre-programmed to send suchelectronic communication, which electronic communication containsinformation that the CAS will use in causing a selected TV ad to betransferred to the STB at the proper time. The electronic communicationreceived by the CAS contains information derived from the interaction ofthe user with an online site (i.e., online activity), which can beonline site 50 or another online site for which the profile provider hasaccess to data about user interactions. The electronic communication cantake a variety of forms, including: (1) an indicator of an indicator ofthe TV ad that should be shown, such as an URL or ad title given by theprofile provider to retrieve the correct TV ad from the profileprovider's ad server, or even the actual TV ad; (2) an indicator ofinformation about the user (likely not PII), such as (a) an IP addresspointing to the user, preferably with time and date of visits; (b) adescription of profile information about the user, or (c) a code orkeyword used by the profile provider to fetch a visitor's profile from adatabase; or (3) an indicator describing user activity, such as a codeor keyword indicating (a) certain categories of users, such as userslikely interested in mortgages or users likely interested in travel,etc., or (b) more simply, what the visitor searched for on the onlinesite, such as “car insurance.” The electronic communication can be sentfor each instance of a user interacting with the online site, or a listcan be created and transmitted containing information about a number ofuser contacts. The electronic communication can include any combinationof items 1-3 above; for example, a list of visitor IP addresses(preferably with date/time of visits) can be usefully paired with anindicator, in the form of a URL or code, identifying specific TV adsthat the profile provider would like to deliver to each of the listedvisitors.

Once requested, the television advertisement can be transmitted to theuser's STB in a variety of ways. The advertisement can be previouslystored on the CAS and transmitted directly from the CAS to the user'sSTB (FIG. 6A). The advertisement stored on the CAS can be transmittedfrom the accessed online site, from another online site, or from anotherad server and stored on the CAS as part of the transmission request fromthe accessed online site, and then transmitted to the user's STB. Theadvertisement can be transmitted directly to the user's STB from theaccessed online site (FIG. 6B) or from another online site or ad server60 (FIG. 6C). The user's STB can be instructed by the CAS to retrievethe advertisement directly from the accessed site, from the CAS, fromanother online site, or from another ad server, using for example theURL given to the CAS by the profile provider. In any of thosealternatives, the television advertisement need not be transmitteddirectly to the STB; instead it can be transmitted through one or moreintermediate servers (i.e., a server hosted by an ISP, cable company, ortelecommunications company, for example). The television advertisementcan be streamed or otherwise delivered in real time, or it can bedelivered to the user's STB or an associated DVR for later viewing.

As IP address are dynamically assigned and reassigned, ISP/TVP 20reports updated online access and STB IP addresses to CAS 40 (as in FIG.2). The IP addresses and their associated pseudonyms can be transmittedto the CAS 40 immediately upon allocation or reallocation by ISP/TV 20,or can be transmitted periodically to CAS 40 at any necessary ordesirable time interval (fixed or variable). Although assignment of apseudonym associated with both the online access IP address and the STBIP address can facilitate delivery of television ads to STB 36 based onthe user's online behavior (via modem 32), it is not necessary. All thatis required is an association between the online access IP address andthe STB IP address to enable delivery of television ads based on theuser's online activities without relying on PII.

In another exemplary system for serving targeted televisionadvertisements based on a user's online behavior, the user need notreceive both television service and Internet access from a commonservice provider. The basic layout for such a system is illustratedschematically in FIG. 7, with modem 32 connected to Internet serviceprovider (ISP) 22 for providing online access, and STB 36 connected totelevision provider (TVP) 24 for providing television service. Again,modem 32 and computer 34 are described as examples of online access andinterface devices, respectively; the use of these specific examplesshall not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosureor appended claims. An online access IP address is assigned to modem 32as described above. In cases where the user's STB 36 can also obtainonline access via the same IP address as the user's online access (i.e.,via modem 32), that common IP address comprises the electronicassociation that can be used to perform targeted television advertisingwithout requiring PII. That case can occur by connecting STB 36 to theuser's modem 32 via connection 35, in addition to connecting STB 36 toTVP 24. For example, STB 36 can be connected to a local area network(LAN) that shares device 32 for online access. In such an arrangement,network traffic is routed to a common IP address (i.e., the IP addressof modem 32) for STB 36 and other devices connected to the LAN. The usercan receive online access from any online service provider via anysuitable modem 32 (for cable, DSL, wireless, satellite, or any othertransmission system) or other suitable online access device and canreceive television service from any suitable television service providerthrough STB 36. The term “common IP address” denotes the IP address of amodem or other online access device to which remote network traffic isrouted for each of multiple devices sharing a common connection to theremote network through that modem, e.g., the IP address of a modemconnecting to the Internet a router in a local area network (LAN) wouldconstitute the common IP address for multiple devices connected to theLAN for online access, even though those multiple devices typically alsohave individual IP addresses assigned by the router for routing trafficwithin the LAN. An online site or server accessed by any one of themultiple devices only “sees” the common IP address (the modem IPaddress).

In an exemplary implementation, a user's STB 36 can periodically contacta CAS 40 (or multiple CASs) via the IP address of the user's modem 32that is common to STB 36 (as in FIG. 8). The common IP address isdynamically assigned by ISP 22 to the user's modem 32 or other onlineaccess equipment. Modem 32 can include a router to route network trafficproperly among the user's computer (or computers or other devices) 34and the user's STB 36. Alternatively, a separate router can be employed,or computer 34 or STB 36 or television 38 can include routing functions,for properly routing network traffic passing through modem 32, with STB36 providing routing functions or being connected to the separaterouter, to computer 34, or to television 38 as appropriate. STB 36reports the common IP address to CAS 40 with which it is in contact.However, STB 36 itself might not know the common IP address it is using,because it communicates through modem 32. In such circumstances, STB 36nevertheless can report the common IP address to CAS 40 simply byinitiating communication through modem 32 to CAS 40, thereby enablingCAS 40 to extract the common IP address from the communication. Thecommon IP address enables delivery of television ads to STB 36 based onaccess of an online site via the common IP address (or based on otheruser profile information derived from online activity observed asoriginating from the online access IP address of modem 32, i.e., fromthe common IP address). The existence of the common IP addressassociates the online access IP address and the set-top box IP address.Again, this does not constitute PH. The time interval for the periodiccontact of the STB and the CAS can be set to any appropriate timeperiod, e.g., every five minutes, every hour, or at some other necessaryor desirable time interval. The time interval can be selected to becommensurate with a typical or average time interval for dynamicreassignment of the online access IP address by the user's InternetService Provider. The selected time interval can be made adjustable ifneeded or desired. Alternatively or additionally, the contact betweenthe STB and the CAS may not be set to occur at a fixed time interval butrather irregularly, such as instances where it is triggered by dynamicreassignment of the online access IP address by the ISP.

When a user engages in online activity (for example, accessing onlinesite 50, as in FIG. 9), user profile information derived from the user'sonline activity from the online access IP address can be deliveredelectronically to CAS 40 (from the accessed site 50 as in FIG. 10, orfrom another profile provider), which in turn can cause a targetedtelevision advertisement to be directed to the user's STB, if there isan STB IP address associated with the online access IP address. In theexample shown in FIG. 9, online site 50 acts as a profile provider, andthe user's online access IP address (the common IP address), from whichthe online site was accessed by the user, is included with theelectronic delivery. CAS 40 causes the television advertisement to bedirected to STB 36 at the common IP address (as in FIGS. 11A-11C), inaccordance with the alternative methods for delivery of the TV addiscussed herein in connection with FIGS. 6A-6C. The particulartelevision advertisement thus transmitted typically is selected fordelivery to the user's STB 36 based on the user's online behavior(examples of various sorts of online behavior, or demographicinformation provided or determined online, are discussed above). Theaccessed online site 50 transmitting the electronic communication(examples of which are listed above) can be any profile provider, or anyprofile provider having access to information about user activity withrespect to online site 50 can transmit the electronic communication(examples of alternative types of profile providers are also givenabove).

The television ad can be directed to the STB that most recently reportedto CAS 40 as the common IP address the online access IP address fromwhich online site 50 was accessed. In that case, the IP addresses canalready be associated when the user profile information is used or theassociation can be created when the user profile is received orafterwards. Or the television ad can be directed to the STB that nextreports that IP address to CAS 40 as the common IP address. In thatcase, the IP addresses might not be associated until the STB and CAS 40are next in communication with each other and the STB IP address isreceived by CAS 40. Associations between STBs and online access IPaddresses could be stored for future usage or could be created inreal-time when a STB communicates with a CAS to receive TV ads and notstored for future usage (i.e., the association is dropped as soon as theTV ads are delivered to the STB). If the periodic contact interval issufficiently small relative to the typical or average time intervalbetween reallocation of IP addresses, then it is likely that those twoIP addresses will be the same and that the television ad will bedirected to the correct STB. There will be a small fraction oftelevision ads that are misdirected, if the online access IP address isreassigned between the accessing of the online site (i.e., deriving theuser profile information) and the relied-upon contact between the user'sSTB and the CAS (i.e., associating the IP addresses). That fraction canbe reduced by reducing the periodic time interval between STB reports ofits common IP address to the CAS or configuring the STB to reportchanges to the common IP address (i.e., to enable updating of theassociation between the IP addresses). Associations between onlineaccess and STB IP addresses can be stored for future use, or the IPaddresses can be associated in real-time only when an STB communicateswith a CAS to receive TV ads and not stored for future use (e.g, theassociation can be purged upon directing the TV ads to the STB).

Instead of relying on or waiting for contact from the STB reporting itscommon IP address to one or more CASs, the online site accessed by theuser could instead query one or more CASs to find an STB with a commonIP address matching the online access IP address from which the onlinesite was accessed. If a matching STB IP address is found, a request istransmitted to the corresponding CAS to transmit a televisionadvertisement to the STB. If the query, match, and request are completedsufficiently quickly, then the probability can be kept low that atelevision ad will be directed to the wrong STB.

In another exemplary implementation, the user's STB 36 can be assignedan identifier, which need not include PH. Such an identifier can bepermanently or temporarily assigned to STB 36. Examples of suchidentifiers could include an equipment serial number or a portionthereof, a device MAC address or a portion thereof, a username, apseudonym, a confirmation number, a tag, or any other identifying codeor data element. The CAS can place an identifier on the STB the firsttime it is in contact with the STB and read or amend the identifierevery time afterwards the STB and the CAS are in contact. Such anidentifier is an analogy of a “cookie” used by online servers torecognize visitors' computers. The identifier can include the IP addressthe STB is using when in contact with the CAS, so the next time the CASand the STB are in contact, the CAS could compare the IP address thenused by the STB with the previous IP address used by the STB withoutlooking in a database. From a privacy perspective, there is an advantageto using an identifier placed by the CAS on the STB, because it enablesthe user to control the identifier from user's TV screen and set privacysettings to match user preference. A user may, for example, erase theidentifier, alter the identifier to inform the CAS the next time it isin communication with the STB that the user is not interested intargeted ads, interested only in ads targeting online behavior from thelast seven days, interested in ads in certain categories only, orinterested in all types of ads except for certain excluded categories(e.g., adult content). In addition to reporting the common IP address toCAS 40, STB 36 can also report the identifier. When an online site 50 isaccessed from the common IP address, online site 50 requests that atelevision advertisement be transmitted to the STB having the common IPaddress. The identifier of the STB most recently reporting the common IPaddress before the request is compared to the identifier of the STB thatnext reports that IP address to CAS 40 after the request. If thecompared identifiers match, then it is nearly certain that the STBcorresponds to the same user online access IP address from which onlinesite 50 was accessed and the television advertisement is correctlydirected. If a unique identifier is used (such as a complete MAC addressor a complete device serial number) then misdirecting the television adis virtually impossible. Even if the identifier is not unique (e.g., apartial MAC address or serial number, or a simple four-digit number), itis still highly unlikely that a given IP address would be reallocatedbetween STB's that happen to have the same identifier. Use of anidentifier can enable accurate directing of television ads to thecorrect STB while requiring the STB to report its IP address to the CASless frequently, reducing network traffic and other resourcerequirements.

In another exemplary implementation, instead of reporting the common IPaddress of STB 36 to CAS 40 relatively frequently, STB 36 can beconfigured to store its common IP addresses and corresponding times anddates that each of the addresses is assigned to modem 32 (and hence alsoto the LAN to which the STB 36 is connected). The common IP address canbe periodically sampled and the sampling stored (e.g., every 1, 5, or 10minutes, or some other suitable interval), or the specific times anddates of IP address reassignments can be stored with the correspondingIP addresses. STB 36 can be configured to periodically (e.g., every 4,6, 12, or 24 hours, or some other suitable time interval) report to CAS40 all of the common IP addresses assigned to modem 32 and thecorresponding dates and times they were used for some preceding span oftime (e.g., 1, 7, 14, 30, or 90 days, or some other suitable interval).Alternatively, the common IP address can be stored on the STB as part ofa cookie or tag set and subsequently read or reset by CAS 40. CAS 40also can be configured to receive IP addresses and corresponding accesstimes and dates for all visitors to an online site 50 that wishes todeliver television advertisements based on online user behavior. Onlinesite 50 periodically reports to CAS 40 (as in FIG. 10) all IP addressesfrom which the online site was accessed during some preceding period,along with the corresponding times and dates. The frequency and timeperiods of the online site's reporting can be similar to those of theSTB reporting, or they can differ substantially, as needed or desired.The two lists (one from the online site, one from the STB) of IPaddresses are compared, and delivery of a television advertisement isrequested if any matches are found, i.e., whenever it is found that theSTB was connected to a modem that was assigned an IP address at a timeand date when the online site was accessed from that IP address. Suchcross-matching ensures accurate delivery of the television advertisementand requires substantially less communication between the STB and theCAS.

The common IP addresses (and corresponding times and dates) can bestored on the CAS. Alternatively, privacy can be enhanced in thisimplementation by storing the common IP addresses (and correspondingtimes and dates) locally on the STB, instead of on the CAS, so the onlydevice that monitors the different IP addresses assigned to the sameaccess device is the STB. If stored, whether on the STB, on the CAS, orelsewhere, the list of common IP addresses can be purged. Purging of theIP addresses can be done periodically, at any suitable time interval,and can be manual or automated. Similarly, the list of online access IPaddress (and corresponding times and dates) from which an online sitehas been access can be purged. The STB can be employed to set privacyoptions, thereby enabling the user to control at least partly if and howTV advertisements are targeted. For example, the user might choosewhether or not, or for how long, the CAS or STB will record and retainthe IP addresses assigned to the user's modem, or can choose to eraseall presently stored IP address data.

Typically a router does not provide the IP address of the cable, DSL, orother modem to the computer(s) or device(s) connected to it or to a LANmanaged by it. STB 36 requires this information to store it for laterreporting to CAS 40. One method for enabling this functionality includesproviding an Internet server (perhaps as part of CAS 40, or perhaps anindependent server) that receives periodic requests from STB 36 andreplies to STB 36 with the common IP address (i.e., the IP address ofmodem 32, through which STB 36 is provided with online access). Anyother method for monitoring the common IP address can be employed,including configuring the modem 32 to directly report its IP address toSTB 36. STB 36 periodically monitors the IP address of the modem 32 at aselected time interval (described above), and stores the modem IPaddress (i.e., the common IP address) and the corresponding times anddates each common IP address was allocated to the user's modem.

In any embodiment or implementation in which STB 36 reports IP addressdata to CAS 40 (either stored on STB 36 or for storage at CAS 40), thatcommunication can be achieved in several ways. STB 36 can report thecommon IP address through the online access modem 32. Alternatively, STB36 can report to CAS 40 through a dedicated upstream data channel 37that is part of the television system (as in FIG. 12). The reported IPaddress data need not be transmitted directly to CAS 40; instead it canbe transmitted to an intermediate server (e.g., hosted by an ISP, cablecompany, or telecom company).

It should be noted that some STBs have a dedicated modem and typicallywould not need to obtain online access through the user's online accessmodem to deliver television service to the user. However, otherfunctionality of an STB includes, or is expected to include, delivery ofaudio, video, images, and other content from a user's computer 34 orother networked devices to the user's television 38. To provide thatfunctionality, STB 36 must be connected to the same LAN or router as theuser's computer(s), even if the STB has its own modem. Although usingits own modem for most of its functions, such an STB would still haveadditional online access through the user's online access modem 32,enabling the user's online access and STB to have a dynamically assignedcommon IP address (as described above). The STB can report the commononline access IP address through the online access modem 32 at thecommon IP address or through the STB's dedicated modem at its own IPaddress. The television advertisement transmitted to the STB can bereceived through the online access modem 32 at the common IP address orcan be received through the STB's dedicated modem at its own IP address(if, for example, the CAS is provided with the STB modem IP addressalong with the common IP address).

However the user's online access and STB IP addresses are electronicallyassociated, the association can be maintained even if the online userinterface device 34 is a mobile device (e.g., an Internet-enabled cellphone, handset, PDA, or laptop computer) that is intermittentlydisconnected from modem 32 and is connected to the Internet throughanother connection (e.g., another LAN, a wireless hotspot, or a cellphone network, as in FIG. 13 or 14). When connected to the Internetthrough modem 32 (as in FIG. 1 or 7), online sites visited using such amobile device 34 can request delivery of television advertisements toSTB 36 in any of the ways described above. Mobile device 34 can beprogrammed to store, in much the same manner as described above for STB36, its online access IP addresses and the corresponding dates and timeswhen disconnected from modem 32 and connected to the Internet by anotherconnection (i.e., when “roaming”). When mobile device 34 is laterreconnected to modem 32, those stored roaming online access IPaddresses, along with the corresponding dates and times, can betransmitted to CAS 40 as described previously. Television advertisementscan be directed to STB 36 based on matches found between the roamingonline access IP addresses (and dates and times) from mobile device 34and online access IP addresses (and dates and times) reported by onlinesite 50 to CAS 40 for visits to online site 50.

Furthermore, the selected television advertisements can be directed toSTB 36 even after a mobile device 34 is disconnected from modem 32 andbegins accessing the Internet through roaming online access IPaddresses. A tag or cookie placed on mobile device 34 (or stored in adatabase elsewhere, such as on CAS 40, by CAS 40, or somewhereaccessible on STB 36 or its associated LAN), which tag or cookie caninclude online access IP addresses (and corresponding dates and times)of modem 32 or STB 36. Those IP addresses (and dates and times) can bereported to CAS 40 by mobile device 34 while roaming (following aredirect from visited online site 50 for example), and a televisionadvertisement can be directed to STB 36 (using the IP address reportedby the roaming mobile device 34) at the request of online site 50.Because a new IP address might be assigned to modem 32 and STB 36 afterroaming device 34 is disconnected from modem 32, an identifier for STB36 (as described earlier) can be employed to verify that the televisionadvertisement is directed to the correct STB. The identifier can bestored on mobile device 34 as part of the cookie or tag.

However the user's online access and STB IP addresses are electronicallyassociated, the STB can be configured to filter the targeted televisionadvertisements based on user preferences. For example, a user mightprogram the STB to reject certain ad categories (e.g., women's clothing,or health ads) and accept certain other ad categories (e.g., automobileads, electronic equipment ads, or travel ads). The filtering can beconfigured as “opt in” (i.e., receive ads only in selected categories)or “opt out” (i.e., receive ads in all but selected categories). Inanother example, a user might filter ads based on how long ago an onlinesite was visited; e.g., the user might choose to accept ads only fromInternet sites visited in the last seven days. Such filtering orpreference data can be applied before or after an ad is selected to betransmitted. The STB can be configured to notify the CAS or the onlinesite to prevent selection, or transmission, of the televisionadvertisement, or the STB can accept the advertisement but then notdisplay it to the user. In an exemplary implementation, such userpreference or filtering information can be stored in the STB as part ofa cookie or tag set and subsequently read or amended by the CAS. Userpreference or filtering information can be stored in any suitablelocation or format.

In another implementation, no software is required to be installed onthe mobile device, only cookies are placed on the device, which makesimplementation in the market much simpler. Once a STB is confirmed tohave been using a certain IP address at a certain date and time (forexample by having a uniquely tagged STB consecutively communicate withthe CAS using the same IP address or by the STB reporting the common IPaddress recorded by it as used by the online access device), the CASdatabase can be searched to find all the computers, mobile devices, andother STBs that used the same IP address at the same date and time, andthose will be assumed to be devices that are part of the same householdand using the same LAN. Then, an association or link is created amongthe devices, by linking the device identifiers or tags with the STB'sidentifier in the CAS database or by placing linking codes orinformation identifying the linked devices within the identifiers(cookies) of each of the devices along with the date and time theassociation was created. The association is kept for no more then apre-determined period of time (such as seven days), to ensure that thedelivered TV ads will be based only on online activity of those peoplethat live in the house and not on online activity of people thathappened to use the house's LAN only once, such as houseguests.

Once the association is created, profile information (both behavioraland demographic) collected about the computers and mobile devices beforeand after the association was created could be used to target ads to theSTB, regardless of the IP addresses used by the computers and mobiledevices (such as cell phones) to access the web at the time the profileswere collected.

For example, consider a common scenario where a laptop, used both athome and in the office, is linked to a home STB as a result of it beingused at home. The day after the association was created, the laptop istaken to work, where it is used to visit a home mortgage site (using adifferent LAN or online access device than the one used at home). Thehome mortgage site redirects the laptop to the CAS along with a requestto transmit a mortgage-related TV ad from one of the site's advertisersto the laptop user. The CAS, reading its own cookie that was placed onthe laptop, checks its database and finds that the laptop is linked to acertain STB. In the evening, when the laptop user returns home and turnson the TV, the user will see the mortgage-related TV ad, even if TV ad,even if the user left the laptop at work that day.

In another example, suppose a laptop user using a laptop at work onemorning views a home mortgage advertiser's ad, before any associationbetween the laptop and a home STB is created. When the mortgageadvertiser ad server redirects the laptop to the CAS with a request totransmit a TV advertisement to the user, the CAS places a cookie on thelaptop, or reads its own cookie if it encountered the laptop before. TheCAS, finding no association between the laptop and a STB, stores the IPaddress used to view the advertiser's online ad, the CAS cookie used tomark the laptop, the date and time the ad was viewed, and a link (e.g.,a URL) to the advertiser's TV ad. In the afternoon, suppose the laptopuser returns home with the laptop. When the user accesses the Internetvia the home's LAN with the laptop, suppose the user visits a travelsite interested in delivering travel-related TV ads to the user from thesite's advertisers. When the travel site redirects the laptop to theCAS, the CAS reads its own cookie and records the IP address used by thelaptop to access the travel site, the CAS cookie used to mark thelaptop, the date and time the site was visited, and links to TV ads(sold by the site to its travel advertisers). Next, the home STB is incontact with the CAS in the evening to check whether there are any TVads available for its user. The CAS then uniquely identifies the STBusing a tag it previously placed on the STB and recognizes that the STBis using the same IP address as the STB did several days ago. The CASchecks which profile providers were visited by computers and mobiledevices using the same IP address since the STB's last contact. The CASfinds the laptop visit to the travel site using the common IP address.The CAS further finds the laptop's view of the online mortgageadvertiser's ad, using the cookie used by the CAS to mark the laptop.The CAS can then redirect the STB to fetch the mortgage TV ad, using thelink provided by the mortgage advertiser (despite the fact that theonline mortgage ad was viewed by the laptop before making theassociation with the home STB) and redirect the STB to fetch the travelTV ads from the links provided by the travel site.

An Internet site can determine in one of several ways which CAS tocontact to arrange for targeted delivery of television advertisements toa visitor of the online site:

(i) Each ISP (or ISP/TVP) has a block of IP addresses from which itdynamically allocates IP addresses to users using DHCP. Based on theonline access IP address of a visitor to the site, an Internet site candetermine which ISP the visitor is using to access the site. The sitecan then transmit a request to the correct CAS for that ISP. The requestcould be transmitted by redirecting the user to the correct CAS, forexample.

(ii) The CAS or the CAS owner can transmit to participating Internetsites a file that includes a list of online access IP addresses that theCAS currently recognizes. Updated files can be transmitted at suitableintervals. An Internet site can receive such files from multiple CASs,and according to the information in the files can determine the properCAS from which to request that an ad be served to the Internet sitevisitor.

(iii) The Internet site can request ads from all or most major CASs,relying on the probability that at least one of them may have registeredthe IP address allocated to the site visitor by the ISP that providesthe site visitor's online access. If that is the case, that CAS cantransmit to the Internet site a confirmation that the CAS recognizes thesite visitor's online access IP address. The Internet site can deliverits request by redirecting a visitor to all or most major ISPs thatoperate a CAS, for example, or by sending all or most of the major CASservers a file with the IP addresses and corresponding times and datesof visitors to the site.

The CAS that receives a request to deliver a television ad to anInternet site visitor might already have electronically associated anSTB IP address with the visitor's online access IP address. If not, theCAS can store the site visitor's online IP address, the identity of therequesting Internet site, and the time and date of the visit to theInternet site. If the site visitor's STB later accesses the Internetserver and the ISP/TVP transmits the site visitor's STB IP address tothe CAS, the CAS can then arrange delivery of requested television ads.Or if the site visitor's STB reports a common IP address that matchesthe site visitor's IP address, the CAS can then arrange delivery ofrequested television ads.

Although the CAS is described as an entity separate from the profileprovider, it could well be owned by or otherwise controlled by theprofile provider. For example, if a profile provider is an online site(a large site such as Google could be a good example), in thatimplementation no redirect (or other inter-party communication) to theCAS will be required because the CAS is the server collecting theprofile on behalf of the online site. For example, Google's CAS couldcollect the IP addresses of users who search on Google, what those userssearch for, at what times and dates the searches took place, andpossibly the Google cookies used to mark those users' computers. Due tothe very large amount of profile information about so many peopleaccumulated by Google, the Google CAS could be used to serve TV ads toSTBs. An STB communicates with the Google CAS to check whether a STBuser has used another computer or mobile device to search on Google (theGoogle CAS uses the STB's common IP address to find those othercomputers or mobile devices, as explained above), and if Google findssuch searches were made, it arranges for delivery of targeted TV ads,sold by Google to its advertisers, to the STB of users who made suchsearches.

As a security precaution, many residential or home office networkrouters are set by default to block access from the Internet to devicesconnected to router. In this default mode, television advertisements canbe transmitted to the STB through the modem/router only upon if aninitiated request is transmitted by the STB. The STB can be configuredto query the CAS periodically for television ads awaiting transmissionto the STB, and in response the CAS can either transmit the ad or directthe STB to retrieve the ad from the accessed online site or from anotheronline site or ad server. Alternatively, enabling “Port Forwarding” onthe router would allow direct access from the Internet to a STBconnected to the Internet through the modem/router, thereby enabling theCAS or online site to transmit, at its own initiative, an advertisementto the STB.

However the transmission of the advertisement is initiated, and whateverthe source of the transmitted advertisement, the STB can save theadvertisement (in its own memory or storage or in a DVR) for viewing ata later time by the user (perhaps repeatedly), or the advertisement canbe presented in “real-time” or “streaming” format. The advertisement(stored or real-time) can be presented independently, or can beintegrated into other television content. Any suitable procedures fortransmitting the targeted television advertisement to the online user'sSTB can be employed.

An online site or other profile provider can provide to the CAS aprofile of a visitor, in return for a fixed payment or a commissionbased on revenue generated by a television advertisement transmitted tothe profiled visitor. In such a case the transmission request receivedby the CAS from the profile provider includes the visitor's profile(searches performed, pages viewed, provided demographic attributes,etc.; typically not PII). The CAS can match the profile with one or moreother television advertisements to be delivered to the visitor's STB (inaddition to those requested by the online site). Such additional ads canbe sold by the CAS or by another party, and can be transmitted directlyfrom the CAS or pulled by the STB from another site or ad server towhich the CAS redirects the STB.

As described previously herein, it is often the case that more than onecomputer or other online user interface device is connected to theInternet through a single modem or router, and all devices sharing thatconnection will appear to an online site to be connected through thesame IP address at any given time. For example, in a home scenario, aparent and a child in the same household might each use their owncomputer to access the Internet, with the parent visiting sitespertaining to news or finance and the child visiting sites pertaining topop music or television. (The same is true in a business setting, wheremany computers may access websites through a common modem or router.)Each such site visited by any person on the LAN reports to the CAS theIP addresses and corresponding times and dates of each of those visits(which are the same at any given time for both computers). The STB inthe same household reports to the CAS the common IP address used foronline access. The CAS can now match the STB to the various sitesvisited. Television advertisements can be selected based not only onrequests made by the visited sites (as already described) but also oncontent being viewed on the television when the TV advertisement isdelivered. For example, if programming is being viewed on the televisionthat is typically targeted at adults (e.g., news, financial reports, oradult drama) then television advertisements requested by the news orfinance online sites are presented. Alternatively, if programming isbeing viewed on the television that is more typically targeted atchildren or teenagers, then television advertisements requested by thepop music or fashion online sites are presented. Both types of ads canbe directed to the STB and stored for later viewing (during viewing ofsuitable television content) or can be directed to the STB and viewed asthe suitable television content is viewed. The same discriminationbetween types of sites visited using multiple online access multipleonline access devices can be employed regardless of whether thecomputers in the household are fixed or mobile devices, through thetechniques discussed previously herein.

In another implementation, the CAS arranges for delivery of TV ads tothe STB along with associated television program targeting criteria,such as targeted age (kid, teen, adult, or senior), targeted gender, ortype of content (travel, finance, news, or other subjects). The STBchooses the TV program within which to serve each of the delivered adsbased on comparing the television program targeting criteria to actualprogram characteristics. Program characteristics can be ascertained byvirtue of their being included in the electronic TV guide available tothe STB or sent with the program as accompanying embedded data, forexample, using known or later-discovered techniques. In a variation,when the STB delivers a television program to the user, or when thetelevision program is about ready to show an advertisement, the STB canconnect with the CAS and report to the CAS the identity of the viewedprogram, and the CAS can respond with an instruction identifying whichof the ads stored in the STB (previously delivered from the CAS to theSTB) should be delivered during the viewed program, based on comparingthe characteristics of the program being viewed with the targetingcriteria.

The television advertisements directed to users' set-top boxes at therequest of a profile provider can come from a variety of sources. In oneexample, a given profile provider can request that the CAS direct anadvertisement to the user's STB from (or on behalf of) the profileprovider itself (if, for example, the profile provider is an onlineadvertiser site interested in delivering TV ads to people that visitedits online site) or from (or on behalf of) a related site (perhaps asite in the same Internet domain as the given profile provider). In thatexample, the proprietor of the CAS, as the facilitator of the targetedTV ad delivery based on the online site visit, can receive a paymentfrom the profile provider. The CAS proprietor can keep a share ofrevenue as a commission and pay the TVP for the ad space (except in thecase where the CAS proprietor owns the ad space). The TVP can eitherretain the entire amount paid by the CAS proprietor, if the TVP owns theTV ad space within which the TV ad was delivered, or the TVP can paysome or all of the amount paid by the CAS proprietor to another entitysuch as a TV broadcasting network, if the TVP does not own the ad space.In the case where the STB is provided by a third party other than theTVP (such as a service provider like Tivo), the STB provider can arrangewith content owners (such as a TV broadcasting network) to have theservice provider's STBs replace broadcasted TV ads with targeted TV ads,where a targeted TV ad is available, and the service provider and the TVbroadcasting network can share the revenue with the CAS proprietor asdiscussed above. In some cases, the CAS can be owned by a TVP, an ISP,an STB provider, an online site, a TV ad space owner, or a TV contentprovider, in which case the payments will be divided in accordance tothe respective roles. In general, a payment from a TV advertiser is usedto pay the TV ad space owner and the entities facilitating the deliveryof the targeted TV ad.

In another example, the online site or other profile provider canrequest that an ad from another advertiser of its own choosing bedirected to the user's STB to whom the online site has sold an amount oftelevision advertising space. The online site generates a new revenuestream by selling TV ads to its advertisers, where the TV ads aredelivered to members of the online site's audience while they watch TV.In that example the online site can collect a revenue amount from thesite-chosen advertiser while paying the CAS, ISP, TVP, ISP/TVP, or TV adspace owner in return for assisting to facilitate delivery to the STB ofthe ad provided by the site-chosen advertiser.

In another example, the profile provider provides a profile to the CASin return for a payment triggered (1) every time the provided profile(whether including behavioral or demographic data) is used to deliver aTV ad, (2) when a TV ad that has been delivered using the providedprofile generates revenues, or (3) simply on account of delivery of theprofile without regard to whether, how often, or how effectively it isused.

The TV advertisement itself can be sold by the CAS, ISP, TVP, ISP/TVP,STB provider, TV ad space owner, or any third party such as a re-selleror a firm that represents ad space owners or profile providers and sellsto advertisers. In that example the profile provider can collect arevenue amount from any of the entities benefiting from the delivery ofthe TV ad based on the profile provided by the profile provider,including the TV ad space owner, STB provider, CAS, ISP, TVP, ISP/TVP,or a third party selling the targeted ad space. The profile provider,re-seller, or the other advertisers can also pay a revenue amount to theCAS, ISP, TVP, or ISP/TVP in return for directing the ad to the STB.

The systems and methods disclosed herein can be used to generate revenuein a variety of ways for various of the involved entities, not limitedto the examples given here, that fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure or appended claims. It should be noted that the terms “pay,”“collect,” “receive,” and so forth, when referring to revenue amounts,can denote actual exchanges of funds or can denote credits or debits toelectronic accounts, especially automatic payment implemented withcomputer tracking. The terms can apply whether the payments arecharacterized as commissions, royalties, referral fees, holdbacks,overrides, purchase-resales, or any other compensation arrangementsgiving net results of split advertising revenues as stated above.Payment can occur either immediately, such as through micro-paymenttransfers, periodically, such as daily, weekly, or monthly, or uponaccumulation of payments from multiple events totaling above a thresholdamount. The systems and methods disclosed herein can be implemented withany suitable accounting modules or subsystems for tracking such paymentsor receipts of funds.

The systems and methods disclosed herein can be implemented as generalor special purpose computers or other programmable hardware devicesprogrammed through software or as hardware or equipment “programmed”through hard wiring, or a combination of the two. Computer programs orother software, if used, can be implemented in temporary or permanentstorage or in replaceable media, such as by including programming inmicrocode, object-oriented code, web-based or distributed softwaremodules that operate together, RAM, ROM, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, hard drives,thumb drives, flash memory, optical media, magnetic media, semiconductormedia, or any future storage alternatives.

It is intended that equivalents of the disclosed exemplary embodimentsand methods shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure and/orappended claims. It is intended that the disclosed exemplary embodimentsand methods, and equivalents thereof, may be modified while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure or appended claims. Forexample, where the term “product” is used in connection with a shoppingor purchase request, the product can be a physical product, intangibleproduct, or a service.

For purposes of the present disclosure and appended claims, theconjunction “or” is to be construed inclusively (e.g., “a dog or a cat”would be interpreted as “a dog, or a cat, or both”; e.g., “a dog, a cat,or a mouse” would be interpreted as “a dog, or a cat, or a mouse, or anytwo, or all three”), unless: (i) it is explicitly stated otherwise,e.g., by use of “either . . . or,” “only one of . . . ,” or similarlanguage; or (ii) two or more of the listed alternatives are mutuallyexclusive within the particular context, in which case “or” wouldencompass only those combinations involving non-mutually-exclusivealternatives. For purposes of the present disclosure or appended claims,the words “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” and variants thereof,shall be construed as open ended terminology, with the same meaning asif the phrase “at least” were appended after each instance thereof.

1-51. (canceled)
 52. A method using common IP addresses to identifyassociations among multiple electronic devices and using an identifiedassociation to cause cross-device action, the method comprising: (a)with a computer system, creating an electronic database containing amultitude of associations, each indicating an association between deviceidentifiers of two or more Internet-accessing electronic devices of amultitude of Internet-accessing electronic devices, wherein: (i) each ofthe associations is determined using stored data relating to Internetaccess by various of the multitude of devices, the stored datacomprising (A) a device identifier of one of the Internet-accessingdevices, (B) an IP address through which the one of the devices accessedthe Internet, and (C) a timestamp identifying when the one of thedevices accessed the Internet; (ii) at least some of the associationsindicate association between at least two devices of the two or moreInternet-accessing electronic devices, which association is determinedby using the stored data to determine that both of the at least twodevices have accessed the Internet via a common IP address at respectivetimes satisfying a predetermined time-relation criterion; (iii) at leastsome of the associations indicate association between at least twodevices of the two or more Internet-accessing electronic devices, whichassociation is determined without use of personally identifiableinformation; and (iv) the computer system determining the associationsaccesses the Internet without using any of the common IP addresses ofthe associations identified in part (ii); and (b) when the computersystem and a first device identified in a first association are incommunication with one another, with the computer system using a deviceidentifier of the first device and user profile information associatedwith a device identifier of a second device identified in the firstassociation to cause an automatic action to be taken with respect to thefirst device, wherein: (i) the first association is one of theassociations identified in part (a) (ii); and (ii) the first associationwas stored in the electronic database described in part (a) prior to thecomputer system and the first device being in communication with oneanother as described in part (b).
 53. The method of claim 52 wherein thepredetermined time-relation criterion comprises the criterion that oneof the two or more Internet-accessing electronic devices referenced inpart (a) (ii) accessed the Internet within a specified length of timeafter a time when another of the two or more Internet-accessingelectronic devices referenced in part (a) (ii) accessed the Internet.54. The method of claim 52 wherein the predetermined time-relationcriterion comprises the criterion that one of the two or moreInternet-accessing electronic devices referenced in part (a) (ii)accessed the Internet between two times when another one of the two ormore Internet-accessing electronic devices referenced in part (a) (ii)accessed the Internet.
 55. The method of claim 52 wherein the firstassociation of part (b) is one of the associations identified in part(a) (iii).
 56. The method of claim 52 wherein at least some of theassociations indicate association between two devices, wherein serviceto a customer via the two devices is provided by different serviceproviders.
 57. The method of claim 52 wherein the first device of part(b) is a television set-top box and the second device of part (b) is anonline user interface device.
 58. The method of claim 52 wherein thesecond device of part (b) comprises a mobile device that accessed theInternet both via the common IP address of the first association and viaat least one different IP address, and wherein the user profileinformation of part (b) was collected when the mobile device accessedthe Internet other than via the common IP address.
 59. The method ofclaim 58 wherein the user profile information of part (b) was collectedafter the computer system has determined the first association, andwherein the first association of part (b) is one of the associationsidentified in part (a) (iii).
 60. The method of claim 58 wherein thepredetermined time-relation criterion comprises the criterion that oneof the two or more Internet-accessing electronic devices referenced inpart (a) (ii) accessed the Internet between two times when another oneof the two or more Internet-accessing electronic devices referenced inpart (a) (ii) accessed the Internet.
 61. The method of claim 60 wherein:(A) the first device of part (b) is a television set-top box; (B) thesecond device of part (b) is an online user interface device; (C) theuser profile information of part (b) was collected after the computersystem has determined the first association; and (D) the firstassociation of part (b) is one of the associations identified in part(a) (iii).
 62. The method of claim 52 wherein the user profileinformation of part (b) was collected after the computer system hasdetermined the first association.
 63. The method of claim 52 wherein theautomatic action of part (b) comprises selecting an advertisement, fromamong a plurality of possible advertisements, based at least in part onat least a portion of the user profile information associated with thedevice identifier of the second device, and causing the selectedadvertisement to be directed to the second device.
 64. The method ofclaim 63 wherein part (b) takes place when the first device isredirected to the computer system to receive delivery of anadvertisement.
 65. The method of claim 52 wherein at least one of thedevice identifier of the first device of part (b) and the deviceidentifier of the second device of part (b) is stored in a cookiereadable by the computer system.
 66. The method of claim 52 wherein thedevice identifier of the first device of part (b) and the deviceidentifier of the second device of part (b) include no personallyidentifiable information pertaining to a user of the first device or thesecond device.